Little Caesars, Dunkin' Donuts eyeing 15th Street location

Tuesday

Mar 25, 2014 at 5:00 PMMar 25, 2014 at 5:07 PM

Pastries and pizzas could soon be part of the 15th Street landscape. Despite a denial of its initial variance request earlier this month, BFS LLC is working on redesigned plans for a joint Little Caesars and Dunkin' Donuts project at the corner of 15th Street and Sixth Avenue/Dr. Edward Hillard Drive.

By Jason MortonStaff Writer

Pastries and pizzas could soon be part of the 15th Street landscape.After its initial request for zoning variances was denied, BFS LLC is redesigning a joint Little Caesars and Dunkin' Donuts development that would be at the corner of 15th Street and Dr. Edward Hillard Drive.Stacey Browning, a planner for the city of Tuscaloosa, said BFS LLC requested variances that would have allowed both eateries to be housed in one building. Browning said the city's Zoning Board of Adjustment, in a meeting March 3, turned down the request because the developer didn't present evidence of a hardship — an inability to construct within the zoning guidelines because of the layout or features of the land, for example — and strong opposition from the community."The request was denied, which is why the company is working on some new designs for the project," Browning said. "I don't really know much more definitively about the new plans other than that."Attempts to reach Ramon Arias of BFS LLC, who was listed as the applicant on the variance request, for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful.But city officials have indicated the developer might be planning to construct separate buildings — one for Little Caesars and another for Dunkin' Donuts — on the former site of Hokkaido Japanese Steak and Sushi Bar in order to comply with the MX, or mixed-use, zoning restrictions that govern development in the area.The Dunkin' Donuts store, if developed, would be the fourth in Tuscaloosa. The others are on Stillman Boulevard downtown, the University of Alabama campus and at the Wilco truck stop on Buttermilk Road.The Little Caesars would replace the one that was lost with the recent demolition of Central Plaza at the intersection of 10th Avenue and 15th Street.Should the redesigned plans meet the existing zoning requirements of the existing zoning, then no one — from city staff members and the City Council to nearby residents and business owners — will have grounds to oppose it.Robert Parsons, president of the Forest Lake Homeowners Association, said his and other neighborhoods associated with the advocacy group Tuscaloosa Neighbors Together opposed the initial, single-building design to preserve the intent of the MX zoning, which was created during the Tuscaloosa Forward planning process. Tuscaloosa Forward is the redevelopment plan the city created with public input in the aftermath of the April 27, 2011, tornado. The storm destroyed about 10 percent of the city, including many of the businesses along 15th Street.Tuscaloosa Forward included an overhaul of the city's zoning restrictions, which dated back to the 1970s, to accommodate advances in construction and to limit the need for variances.Parsons said that granting variances for the initial rebuilding along 15th Street would encourage other developers to also ask for exceptions.Parsons said that he and the others against the variances believed that two drive-through windows (the initial plans called for both Little Caesars and Dunkin' Donuts to have them) would have significantly increased traffic at the corner of the busy intersection."The business model was in conflict with the city's over-arching goals for this area," Parsons said. "We're all investors here, too. I don't want to be treated any different than they are."